Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-12-24

! two boats together, in order TO better guard
! against eapSizing, but, unfortunately, there
were not enough ropes between them to do
this.
While they were thus striving to get to-
/ gether, the English Boy, who had all along
wanted to get into the larger boat, where tho
\ steward was, jumped overheard to swim to
! is, but he had no sooner got into the water
| than heavy rain squall, carrying huge
/ roller before il struck them and nearly cap
1 sized both boats The smother and spray
proved too much for the pluoky boy, and, al
4 though not very far away, he sank before his
absence was noted by the sailors who were
busy keeping the boat from swapping Six
men were then left in the smaller boat
Night was now rapidly coming ON, and be-
/ fore the squat had abated sufficiently to give
the men chance to breathe freely, it was
/ pitch dark The boat had been riding to an
/ oar to break the waves during the squall,
/ and she was allowed to ride so the rest Of the
night.
! The men had been over forty-eight hours
! without rest or adequate food. Although
the weather was not cold, they had been con-
! stantly drenched by the rain and sea and
were chilled through as well es completely
| exhausted. In this forlorn condition, with
the exception of the second mate, who held
on to the tiller, and the carpenter who sat
near by to relieve him occasionally, the men
cast themselves down ON the bottom Of the
boat and lay there all night in stupor that
was unbroken except ON two CT three occa-
sions, when they were aroused to bail out the
| boat
| On Sunday morning, the 16th the sun rose
clear, and the wind, which still held easterly,
| had greatly abated and SO had the sea- The
boat was therefore steered about in various
directions in the hope of falling in with the
other boat, but all attempts to find her proved
unavailing, and the men concluded that she
had foundered in the heavy squall in which
| the boy was drowned Being alone ard
| thrown on their own scanty resources, they
| all gathered aft for consultation. For some
minutes they all sat silent, staring off over
| the tumbling sea, and then the second mate
drew little black covered Testament from
pocket in his shirt, carefully opened the wet
leaves, and began reading aloud the story of
| Christ stilling the tempest after he had been
| awakened from his sleep in the stern of the
boat ON the sea of Galilee. With one accord
the men took off their hats and dropped on
their knees and remained thus until the off
Ger stopped reading. The prayers for help
that followed were hearty and sincere, and
although sailor men, as a class, are not noted
for piety, every member of the boats crew
to whom the reporter talked declared that
from the reading of that Scripture until they
were finally saved not one of them doubted
their ultimate rescue Yet the answer to
their petition was long time, as it seemed
to them, in coming, and once they were al
most wild with despair.
At o'clock the second mate opened the
bag of biscuit, and cut the covering from the
ham. After carefully counting his store he
found that by giving each man half biscuit
once day, with a thin slice of ham and
pint of water, the stores would last until Sat
urday. This division of the food was there
upon agreed to- The men were then divided
| into two watches, who were to take turns in
steering and bailing out the boat, watch and
watch, as work is usually done at sea. Each
man then ate his allowance of bread and
meat, the most Of them dividing it into min
ute pieces in order to make the eating of it
! last ss long as possible, while the water was
swallowed in sips Then those who were off
| duty lay down in the bottom OF the boat,
QId prayed themselves to sleep, while the
| lnan at the tiller and the two on lookout
strained their eyes in hope of seeing sail.
After the weather mad moderated an old
| tug boat sail had been found under the
| thwarts and with the aid Of in oar for a
mast the sail was set, and after the watches
were chosen the course was laid to the west
ward, in the hope of getting in the track of
coastwise vessels from American ports.
Sunday was thereafter uneventful, as was
| Monday also, except that on Monday the sun
| was tolerably hot AT each change of the
watch during the daytime the second mate
| read to them from his Testament the Scrip
| t,re that pleased the men most, being the
story of the Prodigal Son, and the chapter
where it is said that God wills not the death
| Of any sinner, and other parts in. which he
| Is spoken of as a kind and good Father; but
| every day at least once the story Of the still
| ing of the tempest was read to them at their
request.
| Tuesday night thick, dirty weather came
| on from the west, and the boat was head
I'd around to the east, and with corner
of the lug sail showing forward, and an oar
| swung by bride astern to serve as a drag
| and break the waves she rode the night out
Wednesday the sun came out terribly hot
| again, and under its influence in the after
| mood some of the men became dizzy and
talked incoherently, fancying first that the
waves were green hills peopled with friends,
| and then huge monsters coming to devour
them. Johansen's crippled leg was particu-
| larly. distressing and he probably suffered
| more than any of the rest.
| Until Thursday, one man on lookout gen.
orally stood up forward steadying himself
| by the mast, but after that they became SO
weak that they contented themselves with
| lying in the thwarts with their grizzly
bearded chins above the rail and their hollow
eyes fixed on the horizon. The Others
stretched out under the thwarts and slept or
| reused up to add their groans and prayers to
| those of the waking.
| Friday was particularly trying day, for
that morning the last erumb of the sea soaked
biscuit and the last drink of water were
| nerved but the men at the change of watch
talked cheerfully, saying that now that their
last food was gone, help would surely come.